Where have all the moderates gone? Long time passing ...

Have you noticed the paradox at the center of American politics lately? Though most people are essentially moderate, our political parties and elected officials have become more extreme.

This year's elections are a perfect example. No matter who wins they won't get the full cooperation of our lawmakers in Congress. That's because the era of compromise in politics is dead. It's history. A dirty word for some.

No more I'll help you if you'll help me, or meeting halfway on an issue. Some lawmakers have gone so far as to make pledges they won't compromise. They insist they are patriots who must take a stand.

Not much gets done that way. We know that from looking at the last two years. The 112th Congress is a study in inept partisan lawmakers. I'd hazard to say this is the worst Congress we've ever had.

Unlike in elections past, there will be no universal affirmation of cooperation with the newly elected president. He won't even get the famous 100-day honeymoon period from the media. That stopped in 2008 when Barack Obama was elected.

The Republican party decided to, " just say no" to everything the new president proposed. Enter 21st Century politics: all or nothing. My way or the highway. Lines aren't drawn in the sand anymore, there are deep moats with alligators in them, and when someone crosses them his or hers political career is at risk.

So where have all the moderate voices gone? In the Senate only eight out of 100 senators voted with their party less than 80 percent of the time. In the House, this trend is even worse with only 6 percent voting with their party less than 80 percent of the time. Some moderate politicians have complained that being a moderate in Washington means you are the enemy.

What's even worse, the few remaining moderates are leaving Congress. Look at what happened in the House when many of the moderates were voted out. Moderate Republicans lost primaries to their Tea Party counterparts, and moderate Democrats lost in the general election to Tea Party Members.

Let's not forget the media's role in all of this partisan polarization. The news is no longer as objective as it should be. You have partisan commentators like Bill O'Reilly, who usually has higher ratings than all unbiased prime time news shows combined. Then there's liberal commentators like Rachel Maddow and Chris Matthews, who also get high ratings.

Seven-term former Rep. Phil English from Pennsylvania, who lost his seat in 2008, said in an AP interview in March, "The big problem in the House and the source of polarization has less to do with the ideology of people who've been elected than the fact that in the House you have two very hostile camps with long lists of slights that they've taken to heart and very few people like John Boehner with the capacity to look beyond those concerns and really reach out."

From all reports, it's no longer safe to be a moderate. If you want a political career you must be prepared to take on the party's brand -- right or wrong. Of course, that leaves the rest of us hanging out to dry. Most Americans want solutions that work and they want their lawmakers to represent them -- not their party.

It couldn't be much simpler, but there it is. We have a dysfunctional government and seemingly no way around it. There's been talk of a viable third party, a centrist party if you will, but it's never happened.

Our dueling parties have seen to that. The future is murky and filled with potholes on it's current course. As much as I want this country to succeed, I'm having a hard time expecting things to get better after this presidential election.

Perhaps a miracle will happen, and our lawmakers will have an epiphany and realize they're destroying the country with their stupid partisan games. I suppose that's a better thought than waiting for a revolution to break out from all the rampant hatred in politics today.

As It Stands, we may well ask, where has reason gone in America?

Dave Stancliff is a retired newspaper editor and publisher who writes this column for The Times-Standard. Comments can be sent to richstan1@suddenlink.net. Visit Dave at LEARNIST -- http://learni.st/ -- under the categories POLITICS & SOCIETY.